Caught this guy hanging around on my street in South Van last week, now it seems every second night he hangs out in a small park in front of my place.. exactly where all the neighbourhood cats hang out.

Scruffy looking fellow too..

I ran into one of these a couple of weeks ago just outside my garage. He didn't seem to care that I was there. It must be slim pickins' out there.

Mid summer, 5:00AM and heading out for a trip I saw a coyote jogging down Manitoba street towards QE park. It had someone's pet in it's mouth! The head (the pet's) was swaying back and forth so presumably it's neck was broken. This one (the pet) was a poof$%king doodle, so not only cats for breakfast.

I never knew they ate entire cats until recently, didn't think it was one of their preferences on the menu, apparently so.

Pretty emboldened those animals. One time years ago found the front half of a cat on my lawn, with the rest missing. They seem to be getting more common, and their territory has expanded. More pets will be lost.

K

A mom I know was in Pacific Spirit Park not too long ago. Met up with another of her friend who was walking her dog. They stopped for a while, just chatting for a bit. A bunch of coyotes showed up and took the dog with them, not scared at all by the women who were trying to rescue the small dog. They never saw the dog again.

for a while they were walking down our street every night. they were terrifeid of our dog, who, even though he was inside, always seemed to know when they would walk by, and go crazy barking at them. the coyote would be on our side of the street, and when he started to bark, cross the street and walk right along the front of the houses across the street. kept our neighbors cats safe.

but these coyotes were definatly well fed. big plump suckers.

I remember hearing a story in the news a year or two back about a stash of cat skeletons found under someones house as well as what seemed to be a den for coyotes. If you want to keep your pet then you just can't let them out alone at night. Sad but true. I've seen them near my place too, just on the street out front. I live near city hall.

A friend of mine went out looking for her cat in the 13th and Granville area, during the day, and caught a coyote in the act of eating her cat. I could relate another story of a friend's cat that fell into the hands of human predators, but this thread is gruesome enough already.

A Coyote "took" my black cat, and had my neighbour's white one for dessert... burp...

We found the remains of my neighbours... but only a couple of dollops* of "hair filled poop" were left as a gift...

OK'Jack...










* some of you may need to Google this word

House pets are more susceptible to being prey than say a rabbit, squirrel etc.. as they lack the "wild" animal instinct and experience.
More and more we will see the coyote and fox come into urban areas for an easy meal.
Most folks will know this, but for those that do not, don't let your dog of leash or out the door should you hear coyotes howling. This is how a pack of coyotes will lure a dog into an ambush and kill it. It's all about survival to them, eliminate the competition for food.

When I used to live in northern BC, in the middle of nowhere overlooking a large field, we saw these guys most nights. You'd shine a flashlight and a dozen or so eyes would light up from across the field.

One morning, our new dog went out, barking at the coyotes, when suddenly the bark became less fearsome and more of a yelp. I opened the door, and there she was, running back to the house with two coyotes in full pursuit, just metres behind her. They quickly backed off when they saw me.

I'm pretty sure we lost one of our cats to these guys. The coyotes were particularly vocal that night, and Zeus never came back home.

Growing up in West Van, I remember a story in the North Shore News c. 1992 where someone found a whole pile of cat and dog heads in some bushes near Gleneagles Golf Course. The editorial screamed "SATANIC CULT ON NORTH SHORE??!!" and it was a bit of a nine days' wonder. Then some biologist examined the heads and said that from the toothmarks she could state that this was the work of a cougar. Apparently they don't like crunching the skulls so much with their big kitty teeth so they eat the rest of the body and leave the heads.

I know I may get a dumping on for this response but I have to say something in defense of the coyote! I am pretty sure their food preference is not our family pets but a fella gotta eat. The one who eats and does it using the least amount of energy will probably have a better chance of survival, it's natures way. We have intruded on their home ranges and brought them into our neighborhoods. I have heard of folks that feed them because they feel sorry for them or think it will help keep their pets safe if they keep the coyotes belly full. This is a welcome mat for a coyote and where there is one well fed coyote there are many others looking for the same unfortunately. The only real predator of the coyote is the wolf, their numbers have decreased greatly or they have disappeared entirely in many regions mostly because of human interference. If the coyote has become a pest we have to take some of the responsiblity for that, we cannot put the total blame on them.

This thread is in need of that 'Free Cat' picture.